A/N: I know its been a while. Not much to say here but for a good while I was uninspired. I know where the end result of this story is going and where I want to take it but this chapter in particular is mostly a bridge to get there and writing it up was a task. I know that its been a wait and sorry for that but finding the energy to write this chapter was really hard. Hopefully it was worth the wait.

Also big shout out to riku260 for some great beta work!

Prieviously Naruto the Scarecrow: It's been a while since the last update and I thought it would be a good idea to remind readers of some plot points that they may have forgotten.

Jiraiya brought Itachi back to the village before being relieved of the Hokage position by Tsunade. Tsunade than got all the information about the Daimyo and how they secretly controlled events around the world as well as the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. She than ordered Danzo's arrest.

Konoha attacked the Grass village and Neji was saved from being an involuntary sperm donor. Hiashi then kept his promise and hunted down the Grass kunoichi. He had no way of knowing who was guilty so just killed as many as he could find. This happened off screen in between this chapter and last but is something to keep in mind.

Shoma Nakamura, the Earth Daimyo hates Naruto because he is Minato's son. He is currently plotting ways to get his vengeance while sating his carnal desires.

In the attack on Grass, Kiba killed a Genin from the Waterfall village. This was done in the heat of the moment but obviously will have consequences.

Obito planned on getting Konan in a genjutsu that would be his ace against Nagato should Nagato betray him. The plan was rather tricky but served its purpose. Now Rain or more specifically Pein, has a bone to pick with the Stone village.

The other powers in the world are keeping a close eye on things. Conflict is at an all time high for peace and Daimyo and village alike seem to be bracing for war.

Chapter 39

Danzo Shimura kept his face blank while he seethed. Things had been looking up recently; Jiraiya was set to take up the mantle of Hokage. He was a man who knew how the world worked. Jiraiya had seen the final year of the First Shinobi War as a child and fought through the following two.

He was a shinobi who knew that, sometimes, one had to do untasteful things to allow others to sleep at night. Jiraiya was a Hokage that Danzo could approve of, but then things began to unravel.

Itachi had been brought back into the fold and Danzo knew that he was walking on thin ice. Apparently, Jiraiya knew the details behind the Uchiha Massacre and how Hiruzen had altered Itachi's orders.

Even still, Danzo was kept in the loop and the attack on Grass was reliant on Root's reconnaissance. It seemed as if Jiraiya could be professional enough to put the village first-so long as Danzo toed the line and reported all mission details. And while used to working in secrecy under Hiruzen, Danzo had looked forward to working with a Hokage that would take a more proactive approach.

It was such a shame when Minato died, there was a Hokage with a spine of unbendable steel and worthy of respect.

Then the Nine Tail's container came back with Tsunade Senju and while not his first choice, Tsunade would be an adequate Hokage. That all changed however, when she got it into her head that he was a traitor and ordered his arrest.

Half of his Root were killed or captured while buying him time to flee his beloved village. He had been hiding in a safehouse outside of the Fire Country's capital for two days now trying to figure out his next plan of action.

Danzo knew how some of his countrymen saw him: a vile, cold man who was too power hungry for his own good. What they failed to see was how devoted he was to the village, not necessarily to the Hokage or its people.

Danzo had been an orphan taken in by Konoha and ever since that day he had loved the village, putting it before everything else. His reputation, pride, and ideals were all secondary to protecting the place that didn't turn him away for being a street rat.

That was why even when labelled a traitor he was not going to rage or lash out at Konoha. No, Root had been handling the darker aspects needed to maintain Konoha's security and would continue to do so.

It was a good thing that Danzo hadn't destroyed Fu Yamanaka's file, it made turning him loose to act as a spy in the village all too easy. It had taken a bit of time, but Fu had managed to engage Naruto Uzumaki in conversation, and everyone knew how careful one should be when conversing with a Yamanaka. It was well hidden but Uzumaki's hatred for Kabuto Yakushi and Shoma Nakamura was revealed.

It was thanks to that revelation and the hints that Jiraiya had given Danzo that led him to understand that most likely Kabuto responsible for Eri Uchiha's kidnapping; all in the service of the Land of Earth's Daimyo.

He drummed his fingers on his new desk, perhaps it was time to send people to Earth country and spy on Shoma? The Daimyo was clearly a threat to his village while on his quest for vengeance and perhaps with a bit of luck Danzo could tempt Naruto Uzumaki to his side with the promise of Kabuto's head. Danzo had not forgotten Hiruzen's words about the Uzumaki; that bonds to people were more important to him than the village itself, but judging by Uzumaki's killing of his younger sister, the boy was far more pragmatic than Hiruzen thought.

The desire to become strong enough to protect something held dear was one Danzo could identify with and hopefully, he could turn Uzumaki into a true shinobi.

xXx

Tsunade resisted the urge to slam her head on her desk as the representative from the Waterfall village repeated himself again.

Waterfall were not quite strong enough to fight Konoha, not when Grass had been so effectively brought to heel and Sound licking its wounds. Waterfall was, however, furious over the death of one of its Genin.

Apparently, Waterfall now wanted to take the one responsible for the murder back to their village to work as cheap labour until the blood money was paid off.

They had been talking in circles for an hour now and Tsunade was not backing down. The Will of Fire burned strong in her and would not let Kiba go into hostile territory, not if she could help it.

Kiba himself sat in her office looking at the floor, he hadn't said a word the entire meeting but as the Waterfall representative fell silent, he raised his head.

"Lady Hokage, I appreciate how hard you want to protect me, but I am guilty. You heard this guy as well as I did; the Genin I killed had a baby sister to raise by himself and now that baby has no one left.

"I've failed as an Inuzuka twice now and while I won't be allowed to raise another partner, I won't fail my duties as a man. I messed up and admit it, now the only thing to do is my best to try fix things. You don't have to order me to do this, I volunteer."

Tsunade blinked but kept her face blank, "Are you sure Kiba? You probably will not be coming back. There is a good chance your life will be painful from this point on."

Kiba nodded, determined, "I have no right to live at home anymore. I caved to my anger and should have to pay the price. Even if we would win a fight against Waterfall, I can't ask anyone to pay for my mistakes."

Tsunade resisted the urge to sigh. Now that Kiba had volunteered she couldn't really deny Waterfall their demand. However, Tsunade looked at the Waterfall representative seriously.

"Alright, Kiba agreed… but I insist that you allow him twenty four hours to say his goodbyes."

The man was about to refute Tsunade, but took another look at her face and nodded meekly.

xXX

Hiashi Hyuga knew that some of his comrades had frowned at his actions back at the assault on Grass but it did not bother him. He also knew that if the truth about Neji's imprisonment was revealed than his fellow shinobi would have understood and, in all probability, helped him hunt down the Grass kunoichi but Hiashi held his tongue.

His life was filled with regrets and he had no intention of adding another one by betraying Neji's trust. Whoever his nephew wanted to tell was his business.

Neji's life hadn't been the easiest and Hiashi knew that most of it was his own fault. If he had been more forceful, perhaps Neji wouldn't have had to grow up without his father. It was time to finally act like an uncle should and if that began by earning his new moniker, 'The Butcher of Grass,' that was what he was going to do.

It seemed as if his nephew had some sort of epiphany, with him apologizing to Hinata for past grievances. Hinata didn't know the specifics but she was astute enough to realise that Neji was suffering of some sort. Being the kind soul that she was, Hinata didn't think twice before forgiving Neji. Truly his daughter was a blessing.

Luckily Inoichi said that while greatly affected by what was done to him, Neji wasn't going to become crippled by depression. He shied away from all physical contact with women but threw himself into training with a single-minded focus and determination. That was a good thing according to Inoichi, 'give Neji something to focus on. Form a semblance of normalcy.'

As Hiashi watched his nephew incorporate his elemental nature with his Gentle Fist Hiashi mentally swore that things were going to change. The clan had to come together now more than ever and if the clan elders didn't like that, well he had already gained a bloody epithet.

xXx

Kiba knew that Naruto was different but hadn't expected this. Kiba had made his rounds around the village, giving his farewells to his family and friends. There was plenty of tears or heartfelt words, but all Naruto gave him was a solid slap on the arm and an order to get stronger.

If he just took those words at face value, he might've gotten offended but Kiba took a moment to think about it. In a way, Naruto not treating him any differently than he had in the past was a relief and from a certain point of view, those words could be interpreted as a challenge.

'Prove that you got stronger than me when we see each other again.'

Now Kiba had no idea if that was what Naruto meant but that was how he took it. It was entirely possible that Naruto had no idea how offensive he could be and wanted to get back to training as quickly as possible but Kiba chose to be optimistic.

Funnily enough, it was more positive than anything else he'd gotten. Plenty of flowery words but they all boiled down to goodbyes. While his self esteem had taken a blow due to his mistakes, he hadn't lost all of his pride. Did they think he was just going to roll over and die? True the chances of seeing each other again was slim but Kiba refused to accept his death so simply.

So, it was only natural for Kiba to slap Naruto back and challenge him to a fight when they saw each other next. Neither of them said anything more but in that unspoken 'boy talk' they didn't need to.

xXx

Kurotsuchi grit her teeth as the blue haired tramp dodged another one of her attacks. She didn't know who these guys in cloaks with red clouds were, all she did know was her village was being attacked and she needed to go back up her gramps!

He was in the sky above facing off against three guys with orange hair while this bitch and three more carrot tops wreaked havoc in her village!

Kurotsuchi dodged another flurry of paper shuriken and bit back a curse. She wasn't getting anywhere and at this rate she would be too late to help her gramps.

It was a risk, but she had to try Dust Release. It cost at least a third of her total chakra reserves and left her vulnerable while she constructed the cube needed for disassembly but ol' blue hair was just dodging everything she threw at her.

A cube large enough to span a whole street at speeds only the Raikage had hope of dodging though; that was her best bet. As she mentally calculated where her cube was going to form and its dimensions, the women said,

"Don't think that the Akatsuki are bloodthirsty beasts. The Rain village was attacked by a shinobi from your village and several civilian children lost their lives. They had no part in our world but paid the price and now your village shall know Pain."

Kurotsuchi nearly lost her concentration when she angrily responded, "That's a lie! Gramps wouldn't give an order like that."

Her opponent raised an eyebrow, "The body was successfully identified as a Stone shinobi. His DNA matched known records. The only surer way to know would be Pein's Human Path but your shinobi killed himself before we could extract the answers we wanted."

Kurotsuchi grit her teeth, "Even if what you say is true there's more going on here. Why the hell would our village give two shits about a backwater place like Rain? You're a shinobi, aren't you? Theatricality and deception are our forte; It sounds like our man was caught in a powerful genjutsu!"

Kurotsuchi saw her opponent's eyes widen but before she could reply Kurotsuchi unleashed her attack,

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"

A large white cube formed in front of Kurotsuchi, wide enough to span the street. The small sphere in the centre expanded but unfortunately for her, her opponent was S ranked for a reason. True the cube was formed at great speed but the Akatsuki member managed to get most of her body out of the cube before detonation.

Blue hair had lost her left arm but before Kurotsuchi could press her advantage the Akatsuki fled into the air, heading towards Gramp's fight. A string of curses followed her as Kurotsuchi had no way of flying after her and shooting a beam of Dust Release was too risky, she could hit Gramps.

xXx

Onoki was getting nowhere. Seeing six enemies with the fabled Rinnegan had shaken him but Onoki had faced Madara and these guys had nothing on Madara's presence. That didn't mean that the fight was easy; the three opponents he faced had unique abilities that he only figured out at great cost to his chakra.

The chubby one could absorb ninjutsu of any variety even Dust Release! It was tempting to label that one as the most dangerous but the other two were just as bad. The bald one had all kinds of weapons that Onoki had never seen before, usually ones that exploded. He had figured that out the hard way, hitting one of those flying tubes with a kunai while it flew towards him, the resulting blast catching him in the face.

The last one had some strange ability to manipulate gravity, blasting things to or from his body with great force. Onoki couldn't push through that, even when he lightened his weight to that of a feather. There was cooldown for that ability, but Onoki had only managed to nail it down to less than ten seconds. To get anything more precise required help from other shinobi but they were all defending his village from other Rinnegan users. Where the hell had six people with the eyes used by the Sage of Six Paths even come from?

Panting from his exertions and blood obscuring his left eye from a wound on his forehead, Onoki tried to think of a new plan.

'They seem to be connected in some way. Attacking their blind spots does not work. Their special abilities don't seem to be shared but since they stay close together, I can't exploit it. Since we're in the air I can't use my Earth jutsus and I'm running low on chakra.'

The arrival of a blue haired women made him inwardly curse. More opponents1? What was his shinobi doing, having a picnic?

The women ignored Onoki, turning to the gravity Akatsuki,

"Pein, I believe we have been deceived. I think it would be prudent to fall back and investigate the issue in greater depth."

The gravity one looked at the women with a severe expression, "You are sure of this?"

"Yes, the way my previous opponent spoke, it sounds like the guilty party was put under a genjutsu. A powerful one, just like the one he used in Mist."

Onoki had no idea what they were saying but he was astute enough to realise that whatever their reason for attacking his village; it seemed to be fabricated. He took a chance and opened his mouth,

"Care to tell me why you attacked my home? As far as I know, we have done nothing to you."

All he got was a short glance before the bald one let out a blinding flash of light; it came out of nowhere and he had no time to close his eyes or brace in any way. That didn't mean Onoki stayed where he was rubbing at his eyes like some child though, he flew upwards while concentrating on his other senses as best he could.

He was shocked to find that nobody appeared to be in the air with him. Had his enemies fallen back like the women suggested? It certainly seemed so but Onoki stayed on guard; after several minutes of inaction however, Onoki believed the fight was over.

When he got back to the ground Onoki was greeted by his ANBU commander and several other jonin. There was so much to do, rebuild and count their dead. Onoki had made use of Akatsuki in the past, their rates were cheap and they did efficient work but they had gone too far now.

His village was his joy, only rivalled by his love for his family and Akatsuki had spat on both of them. No, he would so Akatsuki destroyed if it was the last thing he did.

xXx

The Earth Daimyo, Shoma grinned when he read his newest report. Akatsuki had attacked the Stone village and even if the village still stood, they had lost a lot of credibility. The Leaf had beaten back an invasion by three villages, that feat had only enhanced their reputation but Onoki had failed to protect his village from a measly seven attackers.

Oh Shoma knew that the members of Akatsuki were dangerous, S ranks were earned in blood but even so, it didn't paint Onoki in the greatest light. Was he getting too old for the job?

The juiciest part of the report, however, was the fact that young Kurotsuchi knew Dust Release. Shoma had tried for decades to get his hands on the fabled ability but to no avail. The only thing Shoma knew for certain was that it wasn't a Bloodline and instead was taught.

Now a new user had popped up and was also a delicious looking woman. Shoma had found his newest acquisition, one that would not only make his personal forces stronger but provide him with entertainment as well.

He pulled out a blank piece of paper, humming merrily to himself as he wrote out a glowing commendation concerning Kurotsuchi's new promotion to his personal guard.

xXx

Naruto could feel a smile stretching his features as he finally managed to use the attack Akari had used against Kakazu and Hidan. The seal she had formed in mid-air was drawn with her chakra which meant that was soon as the seal was finished it activated by itself. This cut down on the time in between attacks but also meant that the margin for error was even slimmer than usual when concerning seals.

With this new attack, Naruto could far off extremely damaging blasts of pure chakra while in normal form. Naruto could only use the Tailed Beast Bomb while in what he called Beast mode and while Scorch Rasengan was undoubtably more powerful than Akari's seal, it lacked the ability to hit at range.

He was still sorting through all of the information that he had stripped from Akari's mind with Psylink concerning seals and jutsus. Having the memories was one thing but understanding was another and it took relentless practice for Naruto to perfect the new things he had stolen.

A new idea formed in his mind and Naruto took out a kunai. Lifting in his left palm, Naruto carved Akari's seal into it not even taking notice of the pain, merely shaking his hand every few seconds to get rid of the blood. Naruto took the time to slightly alter the seal, keying it to his blood since anybody could now see the seal and copy it.

Once done and with a quick shake, Naruto pointed his palm at a nearby tree and let loose. A beam of blue chakra blasted through the air and turned the tree into splinters. Naruto smirked, now he could use the attack even faster than before!

Dubbing the new attack Force Palm Naruto spent the rest of the day fine tuning the attack. With focus, he could narrow the width of the beam, increasing its piecing power at the expense of overall effective jutsu surface area. He could also do the reverse and let out a large cone of chakra that hit in a wide area at the cost of damage.

Pure chakra attacks were draining but he had the reserves to spam them and that didn't even take Kurama into account. They also did not have any inherent disadvantage's like the elements did, which meant that all the elements had a hard time defending against them. It was one of the reasons why the base Rasengan was so feared.

He thought about calling it a day and turning in. Naruto could feel himself getting stronger, but it still wasn't enough, not yet. Steeling himself, Naruto started practicing his Gentle Strike katas while finding ways to use his Force Palm in conjunction.

He would keep training until he was strong enough to protect his family; strong enough to stop them from dying.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: So what did you think? There is a bit of place holder stuff here until some big stuff happens but I needed to set up some stuff before I could get to the fun stuff.

What did you think about Kiba? Too edgy? I fear that may be the case but I do have a direction in mind for him.

Let me know your thoughts.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.